Sorel Mizzi Wins partypoker Premier League VII for $466,000

The partypoker Premier League VII has been completed following a several tough days of poker at the Playground Poker Club in Montreal, Canada. With a buy-in of $125,000 and a star-studded field, the stakes were high and the competition was ferocious. Emerging victorious to earn the $400,000 first-place prize was Sorel Mizzi.

Premier League VII Results

Place

Player

Prize

1

Sorel Mizzi

$466,000

2

Jeff Gross

$274,000

3

Dan Colman

$194,000

4

Scott Seiver

$130,000

5

Jason Koon

$118,000

6

Brian Rast

$102,000

7

Jonathan Duhamel

$52,000

8

Daniel Cates

$48,000

9

Antonio Esfandiari

$40,000

10

Phil Laak

$38,000

11

Dan Shak

$20,000

12

Vanessa Selbst

$18,000

The event consisted of 12 world-class players, with each playing in four eight-handed preliminary heats prior to the final table. Points would be awarded based upon finishing position in each heat, and the top four point earners would automatically reach the final table. The remaining eight players would then battle in a series of best-of-three heads-up matches for the remaining two spots at the six-handed final table. Each point earned through the preliminary heats was worth $2,000 in prize money.

Gross Wins Heat No. 1

Jeff Gross, Antonio Esfandiari, Daniel Cates, Sorel Mizzi, Jason Koon, Brian Rast, Dan Colman, and Scott Seiver were selected to participate in the first heat. When it came down to heads-up play, Gross found himself pitted against Colman.

According to the partypoker blog, Gross defeated Colman on the 236th hand of the heat. Gross moved all in with the and was called by Colman holding the . The board ran out , and Gross secured the win to lock up an important 14 points. Colman earned 11 points for his runner-up finish.

When action got down to the final two players, it was Koon up against Seiver. This came after the elimination of Duhamel in third place, and on the 228th hand of the heat, things were all over.

Koon and Seiver were all in preflop, but it was Koon's dominating {8d{ that would prevail over the of Seiver. The flop, turn, and river ran out to give Koon the victory.

Here are how the standings looked following Heat No. 2:

Rank

Player

Heat 1

Heat 2

Total

1

Jason Koon

3

14

17

2

Daniel Cates

9

7

16

3

Jeff Gross

14

—

14

T4

Scot Seiver

0

11

11

T4

Dan Colman

11

—

11

6

Jonathan Duhamel

—

9

9

7

Sorel Mizzi

7

—

7

8

Brian Rast

1

5

6

9

Antonio Esfandiari

5

—

5

10

Phil Laak

—

3

3

11

Vanessa Selbst

—

1

1

12

Dan Shak

—

0

0

Mizzi Wins Heat No. 3

The third heat consisted of Gross, Duhamel, Mizzi, Koon, Shak, Laak, Selbst, and Colman, while Esfandiari, Rast, Seiver, and Cates sat on the sidelines.

First to go was Laak, who earned no points for his last-place finish and continued a very lackluster performance in the event thus far. He was followed out the door by Duhamel (1 point), Koon (3 points), Selbst (5 points), Shak (7 points), and Colman (9 points) before Mizzi and Gross went heads up.

On the 211th hand of the third heat, Mizzi put an end to things and defeated Gross when his held up against the . The money went in before the flop, and the board ran out to give Mizzi the victory and 14 points. Gross added 11 points for finishing in second place, and that was enough to move him back into the overall lead.

Here are how the standings looked following Heat No. 3:

Rank

Player

Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Total

1

Jeff Gross

14

—

11

25

2

Sorel Mizzi

7

—

14

21

T3

Dan Colman

11

—

9

20

T3

Jason Koon

3

14

3

20

5

Daniel Cates

9

7

—

16

6

Scott Seiver

0

11

—

11

7

Jonathan Duhamel

—

9

1

10

8

Dan Shak

—

0

7

7

T9

Brian Rast

1

5

—

6

T9

Vanessa Selbst

—

1

5

6

11

Antonio Esfandiari

5

—

—

5

12

Phil Laak

—

3

0

3

Colman Wins Heat No. 4

In the fourth heat, Esfandiari got back into action and two breaks in a row, and he was joined by Cates, Mizzi, Duhamel, Laak, Selbst, Colman, and Seiver.

Seiver was eliminated first, earning zero points and not doing himself any favors in terms of the overall standings, before Cates following him out the door next for just one point. Then it was Selbst (3 points), Mizzi (5 points), Duhamel (7 points), and Esfandiari (9 points) next to go in that order before Colman took on Laak in heads-up play.

On the 156th hand of the heat — the shortest heat thus far — Colman finished off Laak. Laak had raised the button with the , and Colman called in the big blind with the to bring about a flop. Colman check-raised Laak's bet of 40,000 to 120,000, and Laak called to see the land on the turn. Colman bet 240,000, and Laak called. After the completed the board on the river, Colman moved all in. Laak called and saw the bad news that his top pair was second best.

Here are how the standings looked following Heat No. 4:

Rank

Player

Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Total

1

Dan Colman

11

—

9

14

34

2

Sorel Mizzi

7

—

14

5

26

3

Jeff Gross

14

—

11

—

25

4

Jason Koon

3

14

3

—

20

T5

Daniel Cates

9

7

—

1

17

T5

Jonathan Duhamel

—

9

1

7

17

7

Phil Laak

—

3

0

11

14

8

Antonio Esfandiari

5

—

—

9

14

9

Scott Seiver

0

11

—

0

11

10

Vanessa Selbst

—

1

5

3

9

11

Dan Shak

—

0

7

—

7

12

Brian Rast

1

5

—

—

6

Rast Wins Heat No. 5

In the fifth heat, Gross, Koon, Esfandiari, Cates, Shak, Laak, Rast, and Colman all saw action, but it was Rast who came out on top to grab a much needed win.

Shak was first to go, and then it was Esfandiari (1 point), Colman (3 points), Laak (5 points), Cates (7 points), and Koon (9 points) to follow. That left Rast to do battle with Gross, who had once again made it to heads-up play in a heat.

On the 153rd hand of the table, Gross four-bet jammed with the into Rast's . He received no help on the board, and Rast earned the 14 points for the win. Gross added 11 to his overall tally.

Here are how the standings looked following Heat No. 5:

Rank

Player

Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Heat 5

Total

1

Dan Colman

11

—

9

14

3

37

2

Jeff Gross

14

—

11

—

11

36

3

Jason Koon

3

14

3

—

9

29

4

Sorel Mizzi

7

—

14

5

—

26

5

Daniel Cates

9

7

—

1

7

24

6

Brian Rast

1

5

—

—

14

20

7

Phil Laak

—

3

0

11

5

19

8

Jonathan Duhamel

—

9

1

7

—

17

9

Antonio Esfandiari

5

—

—

9

1

15

10

Scott Seiver

0

11

—

0

—

11

11

Vanessa Selbst

—

1

5

3

—

9

12

Dan Shak

—

0

7

—

0

7

Seiver Wins Heat No. 6

In the final preliminary heat, Mizzi, Esfandiari, Rast, Gross, Duhamel, Selbst, Seiver, and Shak all took their seats. Selbst was first to go, earning zero points and finishing her Premier League with just nine points.

From there, Gross (1 point), Shak (3 points), Esfandiari (5 points), Mizzi (7 points), and Duhamel (9 points) were all eliminated, and it was Seiver up against Rast.

After a long duel between the two, Seiver came out on top on the 220th hand of the heat. The two found all the money in on the flop, with Seiver holding the for a flush draw and Rast the for a pair of tens. The turn kept things clean for Rast when the fell, but the spiked on the river to give Seiver a flush and the win.

Here are how the standings looked following Heat No. 6:

Rank

Player

Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Heat 5

Heat 6

Total

T1

Dan Colman

11

—

9

14

3

—

37

T1

Jeff Gross

14

—

11

—

11

1

37

3

Sorel Mizzi

7

—

14

5

—

7

33

4

Brian Rast

1

5

—

—

14

11

31

5

Jason Koon

3

14

3

—

9

—

29

6

Jonathan Duhamel

—

9

1

7

—

9

26

7

Scott Seiver

0

11

—

0

—

14

25

8

Daniel Cates

9

7

—

1

7

—

24

9

Antonio Esfandiari

5

—

—

9

1

5

20

10

Phil Laak

—

3

0

11

5

—

19

11

Dan Shak

—

0

7

—

0

3

10

12

Vanessa Selbst

—

1

5

3

—

0

9

Koon and Seiver Advance to Final Table

With the top four points earners — Colman, Gross, Mizzi, and Rast — all securing an automatic bid to the final table of six, the next four point earners — Koon, Duhamel, Seiver, and Cates — had to battle for the final two spots. Koon was to take on Cates, and Duhamel was to face Seiver.

Koon took on Cates in the first of the best-of-three matches, and he eliminated him by winning the first and second. The following day, Duhamel took on Seiver for the last spot at the final table, but lost when Seiver was able to pull off the victory. Seiver won the first match, Duhamel won the second, and then Seiver captured the third.

Mizzi Tops Final Table, Wins partypoker Premier League VII

There was plenty of firepower at the final table, but inevitably there could only be one winner. Falling first, though, was Rast, as he was sent packing by Colman on the 17th hand thanks to a bad beat. The two found the money in the middle preflop, and it was Rast's dominating Colman's . Following a board of , Colman had backed into a club flush and that was the end of the line for Rast. He earned $40,000 for his sixth-place finish at the final table.

Koon was next to go, and this one was a cooler for the young pro on the 59th hand of the final table. With the board reading on the turn, Koon had the for two pair, but little did he know Mizzi had the best of it with the for the straight. The two got all in, and Koon wasn't able to improve to a full house ager the landed on the river. Koon earned $60,000 for his fifth-place finish at the final table.

Just two hands later, Seiver was out the door. After raise-calling a three-bet against Colman, Seiver moved all in on the flop against his opponent. Colman quickly called with the for middle set of tens, while Seiver was in a world of hurt with the . The on the turn did give Seiver a straight draw and some help, but the landed on the river to end his tournament. Seiver pocketed $80,000 for his fourth-place finish at the final table.

After falling back to the short stack during three-handed play, Colman's final hand came on the 75th hand of the final table. It was his that couldn't come from behind against Mizzi's , and he was gone in third place, worth an additional $120,000.

When heads-up play began between Mizzi and Gross, Mizzi had a big 9-1 chip lead. He had 1.807 million in chips to Gross' 210,000. That didn't stop Gross, as he battled back a couple of times, even slightly taking the chip lead at one point. In the end, though, Mizzi proved to be too much for Gross and the Canadian won the first partypoker Premier League event held in his homeland.

The proved to be Mizzi's hand of the final table, as he severely crippled Gross on the 159th hand after flopping a combo draw and turning his inside straight. Gross had flopped top pair and was drawing dead when the money went in on the turn.

On the final hand, the 186th hand of the final table, Gross moved all in with the , and Mizzi called with the . Despite Gross having a dominating hand, it was just Mizzi's day. The flop, turn, and river came to give Mizzi the flush and send Gross home in second place.

For his runner-up finish, Gross earned $200,000. Add that to the $74,000 he earned off of his points, and Gross walked away with $274,000. On the other hand, Mizzi scored the impressive $400,000 first-place prize and the right to be called champion. Mizzi also earned $66,000 from his points, for a grand total of $466,000 in prize money.

Congratulations to all of the winners, and especially to Sorel Mizzi on becoming the partypoker Premier League VII champion.

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